Is Alcohol Bad in Skincare? The Science

Alcohol (ethanol, ethyl alcohol, SD alcohol or alcohol denat) is one of the most controversial ingredients in skincare. You might've heard that it speeds up aging, kills skin cells, and creates inflammation. But are these just more #skincaremyths? What do the studies actually tell us? How bad is alcohol in skincare, really? Watch this video to find out!
This is a collaboration with cosmetic formulator Stephen Ko (@kindofstephen: / kindofstephen ) - let us know if you have any other topics you'd like us to explore!
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In this video:
🍷 What is an alcohol?
🍷 Why is alcohol in skincare products?
🍷 In vitro application vs skin application
🍷 What do the studies tell us about alcohol and:
💥 inflammation?
💥 skin barrier disruption?
💥 skin hydration?
Mixed Makeup collab where we look at alcohol in Susan's skincare products: • Is Alcohol in Skincare...
Follow us on Instagram:
/ labmuffinbeautyscience
/ kindofstephen
/ mixedmakeup
Blog post with more info and references here: labmuffin.com/how-bad-is-alco...
---ABOUT---
Lab Muffin Beauty Science is a channel by me, Michelle - I'm a chemistry PhD and beauty lover, here to explain how beauty products work, debunk myths, and help you make smarter decisions about your skincare, hair and makeup!
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Blog post for this video with more info: labmuffin.com/how-bad-is-alco...
---SKINCARE GUIDE---
The Lab Muffin Guide to Basic Skincare is here! Find out more: labmuffin.com/skin

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

What other topics do you want Stephen and I to tackle? 🔬 Let us know below!

[@ThunderWolf731]

pls pls pls debunk the myth of those home make hair growing essence oil and how to promote hair growth and eye lash growth. You loyalty fans is here begging for truth from u. My beauty queen. >

[@pps1992]

I'm not sure if you have done this before, but if not could you also talk about fragrances in skincare. From artificial to essential oil and even masking fragrances. Thank you for these well researched videos.

[@cristinarisso8668]

Growth factors, conditioned media, stem cells :)

[@annapurnapotluri4660]

Combating skin laxity, please!

[@mihaelaskrabo1385]

I'd love some specifics on how to store products with certain ingredients. Like, we know we should keep our perfumes away from direct light, is there such a thing when a product contains aha/bha acids? Or spf? Is there a red light when a brand has a packaging for a certain serum that isn't suitable for it?

[@cathymccarthy5360]

So interesting. The ‘clean beauty’ movement has forced brands to remove ingredients that are sometimes necessary in a formulation. I’d love to know more about fragrance in products and how they’re listed in the ingredients of cosmetic products. Also the affects of citrus or in products. It would be good to look at the ingredients of an expensive cream such as the Augustinus Bader products to work out a) if they are a good formulation b) why is it so expensive.

[@elopix234]

Ate you talking about green washed brands or real sustainable products which are „certified“. Cause in the latter alcohol is commonly used in Europe, there are way other ingredients which have a bigger and worse impact on the environment than alcohol. So how come there are thousands of products which work and are bought but don’t use these „necessities“? It works perfectly without.

[@EspadasYCopas]

Why you talk about clean beauty like that? In My country ,clean beauty doesnt say a word against alcohol, we know it's necesary for making plant extracts,so...

[@Bibagodiva55]

@cathymccarthy5360: my Dear...I Just wrote something about Up ☝️...If You are interested...it's funny how strong exactly these "honest and Green + Clean Beauty-Fans" are with their wrong or not existing Knowledge are! They fight for their Faults...😂😂😂😓....stay wrong, stay stupid! We can't change the Mind of this People, it is always the same! 🤗 Have a nice Day, Dear !

[@Bibagodiva55]

​@@EspadasYCopas: exactly, otherwise we can't get the extracts out of the Plants! 😂 But THIS don't know this "Clean Beauty-Freaks"...you can look Up...I wrote an Expierience with one of them which I had! So I Stop to try to "educate" somebody here in the Web or the App's.

[@KindofStephen]

Thanks so much for having me on your channel Michelle!

[@Sky10811]

That was a very pleasant surprise! Thanks for starting doing videos. Your blogs are great but a bit long. Still i read them!!! Hehe

[@mashaserhiiko8734]

You guys rock on your own, but together it’s just absolutely stunning. I might be wrong here, but Stephen hadn’t been writing much for a while before the video was released, so my ask is: do not disappear, Stephen, keep writing/making videos with Michelle!

[@AndreaM-bi1dj]

Ok but Stephen what is your skincare routine omg it’s beautiful 🤩

[@audreyvv]

I would like to hear you talk about aluminum in deodorant and the rise of "natural, aluminum free" deodorants!

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

I actually did a blog post on it last week, though not a video yet! It might turn into a video at some point... labmuffin.com/should-you-avoid-aluminium-in-deodorants-the-science/

[@agirl8961]

My friend got a rash from the aluminium in the old spice deodorants which spread down his arm

[@gnparticle]

yes, a video about this please!

[@yunxiao7615]

@@agirl8961 It could be from the strong fragrance, not aluminum. JS

[@blablablabla2584]

@@agirl8961 And out of all the ingredients it just has to be aluminium? Do you know how much irritating fragrance there is in those things?

[@jennag7650]

You should cover mineral oil next 😎😃

[@Mixedmakeup]

We loved working on this video with you! Such great information

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@rachelkirby1708]

I use to be obsessed with using skincare with only 'natural' ingredients and my skin was awful. After discovering your videos I have embraced more scientific skincare and my skin has never been better, so thank you! I live by tretinoin and suncream! As far as natural skincare goes I still love rosehip oil, oats, and rice.

[@haleymoon657]

This happened to me too! For year maybe 7 I tried to only use “natural” products or home made skincare and my skin was lack luster, dry and dehydrated and so congested. Two years ago I slowly changed my routine and now I honestly don’t think a single product in my routine would be considered natural lol but my skin looks amazing and I get compliments all the time!

[@jadelightsword]

The 7 to 14 day duration in these clinical studies is pretty bogus. I'm a hospitalist, and sanitize my hands with Purel 20-50 times a day at work. Nothing happened to my hands in the first 2 weeks, not even in the first month. But after about 6 months into my job, the palmar surface of my hands (a lot thicker than face or inner forearm skin) became so dry that they are cracking and bleeding. I agree that the fear mongering of ethanol in skincare products is overdone, but me and my cracked hands find the short duration of these clinical studies painfully insulting. :(

[@remyvu9071]

I do agree with you that these studies should be longer to properly mimic real life condition. but a lot of these pilot studies are limited by funding and other circumstances that's why they're such short-term. I'm so sorry to hear about your hands though, it sounds so painful.

[@Zantetsukens]

I hope Michelle sees this!!!

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

I agree longer term studies would be great - have you tried a different hand sanitiser? Ethanol isn't the only ingredient in them, so perhaps another product with a different formula might help out your case...

[@IcemagicAJ1]

Jadelightsword I’m also curious on this topic! Especially with things we do daily or even more often with the coronavirus eliciting fear everywhere with hand washing can add up. For example, highly fragranced hand washes.

[@SK-xx6ty]

I’m a doctor as well, and I wash my hands under the sink as I don’t feel clean just using the alcohol gel. I moisturise afterwards and despite that I’ve got eternal cracking and bleeding of my hands. Maybe it’s got less to do with alcohol and more the fact we’re stripping the surface layers of our hands 20+ times a day?

[@angyeliz]

Lol the intro with “alcohol”. I’ve never been afraid of alcohol since it’s all about the formula but so many channels demonize it now. Thanks for the wonderful and thorough information yet again.

[@aliciaarcher]

angyeliz HEEEEEY!!!! I’m so happy Michelle and Stephen did this video!

[@angyeliz]

kinkysweat 🙌 Heyyyyy! Girl me too! It’s nice to see actual experts in the subject and it helps I love them both!

[@CyrilleLaurent]

This collaboration is everything thank you for spreading awareness. I would love to see you making a video about “clean beauty”.

[@wonniek.3536]

Hi Cyrille!!! 👋 Love my beauty community scientists 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@quillpen815]

Glad to see you here cyrille. 🤗☺️

[@richcreamerybutter6640]

Can you do a video on essential oils? I can sense a mass divide between holistic/ natural vs clinical/ science

[@ranae1925]

Thanks for putting this together Michelle! Can we have a video about peptides next?

[@Charlotte-ee6xu]

Loooove this content! Also loved Stephen’s contribution! Can you guys pair up more often? 🙌

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

We've been discussing future collab ideas! 😊

[@Charlotte-ee6xu]

Lab Muffin Beauty Science YAY! I’d love to know more about fermentation sensitivity! Like why some people (like myself) can breakout from products with fermented ingredients.

[@lovemyanimals7433]

What bothers me is that beauty gurus who has zero scientific knowledge scoffs at alcohol and spread misleading information like Tati

[@carinachen3950]

Yea skincare is different than makeup. W/ makeup is more aesthetics so a person uneducated in the science background will be able to give out useful judgements. But w skincare it’s very different. Also w the amount of derm visits and facials, their skin conditions are in a wayyyyy different realm than their audiences. So I hate when they just recommend a product bc it felt good without any logical explanation that can showcase why it actually works.

[@ye23.]

There’s actually big skin care brands like paulas choice that have entire sections on their website warning of the dangers of alcohol in skin care. I Know of at least one expert on KZbin who’s warned against alcohol

[@moose8762]

Jeffree Star saying alcohol should never be in an eye cream talking about Cetyl Alcohol

[@jasminateodorovic1248]

Not just beauty 'gurus', loads of Board certified dermatologists are contradictory in the majority of their videos

[@SueRosalie]

@@ye23. Paula is neither a doctor nor a cosmetic chemist. She is just a layperson demonising safe ingredients. Her products are good though.

[@AdamL6102]

Fantastic video and so needed! And great to see a collab! I am sick to death of people (and brands) immediately writing off products because they contain alcohol and criticizing others for using products with alcohol. I've personally never been able to find an SPF that works for me that doesn't contain a high amount of alcohol and I'm willing to bet it's because of the volatility of the alcohol improving the aesthetics of the formula.

[@qtunicorn2123]

Thank youuu! Topic suggestion: Fragrances in skincare

[@maristar852]

What's this? My 2 favourite science peeps who manage to explain science in an easy way to understand for us non science guys? About a theme that's close to heart? Is this real life or is this fantasy???! Thank you! For this video and all the work you both do! I would personally love a video that goes really into sustainability and climate friendly, climate cost of skincare. Ingredient wise, shipping, etc etc. Especially palm oil in skincare!

[@salponce3368]

Thank you sooo much for this video! I hate how demonized alcohol is in skincare. I use Asian sunscreens & lotions, many of which have alcohol at the top of the ingredient list. Like you said, they contain other moisturizing ingredients & together, they make for a cosmetically elegant finish. I would only stop if more scientific data demonstrates truly adverse effects...

[@sabr4174]

People with skin conditions like rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis can have adverse reactions to alcohol though. So while I don’t think it’s necessarily bad for everyone, it’s definitely bad for people with specific conditions.

[@lourenasev]

just out of curiosity, do you use retinoid?

[@QuirkyBoy]

thank god we have A REAL PROFESSIONALS like Michele and steven that educated us well. soon all the beauty guru self claim "guru, Specialist, pro, expert" will make this kinda video 🤣. they being hypocrite make a video thats alcohol actually good bla bla bla. while in past they bash the heck out of it

[@chew-dur1372]

*cough* hyram *cough*

[@Sophya7]

Yeah lol. They just copy and paste actual professionnal's content and act like they knew all along. Same with fragrance and HA

[@wonniek.3536]

Thank you for doing this guys!! Really dispelled any worries i have had over alcohol. Both you and Stephen are so gorgeous, brilliant and smart!!🙌🏽🙌🏽 So nice time see Stephen in a video!!

[@mashaaxe]

LOVE this collab!!!! Please do more videos with Stephen!!!! 😊👍🏼💕

[@emmckenzie9782]

Awesome video, thank you so much! Just demonstrates again that people need to treat formulators with the same respect they would treat other experts. They know why they’re including an ingredient and no qualified professional is out to harm you.

[@Chris-pe7ep]

Absolutely amazing video! I (and i think a lot of other people) really appreciate your scientific input on these skincare topics. You are truly a breath of fresh air, keep on doing what you're doing

[@msKita43]

I'm currently studying to become an esthetician and your videos are amazing. Thank you so much for breaking it down and contrasting the clinical studies with the concentration most likely to be found in cosmetics. Brilliant. Love it.

[@missjohari]

I absolutely love educational content like this! Please keep them coming!!! Love Stephen and Susan too! Also. Your the only person in YT that I’m subscribed to. 😍😍

[@abigailbutcher9582]

This was a fantastic video. Please add more content like this. You two are really doing everyone a big service by scrutinizing common tropes in the skincare industry. More please. Thanks again!

[@anarinaldi]

My two favourites skincare gurus in one video! Ty so much!

[@katherinewong1689]

Appreciated how much work you have put in this video to break up the science bits into easier to understand information. Thank you Michelle and Stephen 👏

[@marijanailjic1790]

Absolutely love your dedication to actually deliver new information that is so well researched. I feel like a lot of skincare channels on KZbin get so repetative and don't go in dept to really understand if something is good or bad ingredient. And usually it turns out it's in the gray area most of the time and depends a lot on different variables. Which as a molecular biology student was such a struggle for me to accept that we rarely can say things with 100% certainty in scientific research or science approach in general. In life and on the internet, Its so easy to throw 'facts' around when you are not well informed, truth is always much more boring and somewhere in the middle, for which you would have to understand so much more about the subject to actually explain it. But I guess there are different niches here on KZbin and those channels are useful to get people interested in skincare.

[@madisonmccollough4908]

9 months later and your videos are still continuing to educate. As an esthetic student, thank you so much.

[@shivika1000]

I have mild roseacia and I found that cutting down products with high ethanol content really helped calm down the redness. I cut down products like cheap sheet masks, even the Innisfree green tea serum which a lot of people love. But at the same time, all products with ethanol do not trigger my skin. Krave's Beet Shield is so soothing to my skin that I keep reaching for it over and over again. The formulation is super important.

[@sonalisood1714]

Hi.. kindly share ..where can I get krave beet shield in India??

[@shivika1000]

@@sonalisood1714my friend who stays in the US brought it for me 🙈 you can check resellers like roseroseshop. The quality can't be guaranteed though

[@sonalisood1714]

Thanks shivika..will check with my family in the US then🙏❤️

[@sabbathunlimited]

Probably one of my favorite videos on your channel. 😊 Appreciate that this went into detail, had your clear explanations, had Stephen brought in as an expert, had your quirky and cute asides, had visual elements to aid our comprehension, and cited references. Really appreciate all the work you put in to produce this informative content. The internet is so lucky to have you.

[@mariam.a.]

As always thank you for the wonderfully presented data!

[@RRbobreed]

I'm so glad you & Stephan covered this topic! Nicely explained Michelle. I'm going to share it with some of my favorite beauty YTers in the comment section. I know several of them will watch it. Hopefully, your video will help to bust this myth!

[@Mkbevington]

OMG THIS IS AWESOME! I love Kind of Stephen and his newsletter is SO informative and well researched.

[@DaPoofDaPoofDaPoofDa]

This is incredibly interesting, n every "beauty guru" should know this info

[@lizbakeslemons940]

Best collab ever!! Love your videos 😘

[@celinelemuria]

wow! Thank you so much for this Lab Muffin! I really appreciate it!

[@waitasecond...]

Great video. Subject is very well covered with no unnecessary fillers.

[@sijleebear]

So loved seeing you guys in the same video! I know Stephen is a Vitamin C guru, I’d love to see you guys explain more about how Vitamin C works on the skin, the different types, is it worth it, and what to look for when choosing a Vit C serum! 🙏🙏🙏

[@sonaku1]

Both of you are the best!! Bless you two

[@beckyc.5743]

Great topic and fantastic information. Thanks so much!

[@AliceintheRabbitHole]

Fantastic video! Thank you for taking such a rational approach to this topic

[@thebarefoottealady]

Ooooo, for my birthday, I get a Stephen/Michelle collab!

[@KindofStephen]

Happy birthday!!!

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

Happy birthday! 😊

[@thefeliciafactor]

I’m just starting the video but THANK YOU for including captions / subtitles. ❤️❤️❤️ information for all!

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

Fixing the subtitles takes a really long time so I'm glad to hear it's appreciated! 😊

[@TheNarcoticMonkey]

@@LabMuffinBeautyScience thank you from me too!

[@josephbrowning2193]

@@LabMuffinBeautyScience If you want to fix them easily I'd recommend using votch.tv, it's super easy to make translated captions in any language using that site. Cheers

[@afic10]

This is amazing, thanks to people like you and Stephen.

[@heidiu2scrap]

Can we just take a minute to bathe in the glory of Stephen's good looks! Thanks Michelle and Stephen for a much needed and informative video. There is way too much fear mongering on You Tube by people who don't even know what H20 stands for. Being a nurse, I constantly am using hand sanitizers but we use ones that have emollients and there hasn't been any issue with excessively dry hands. There is only a fraction of alcohol in skin care compared to hand sanitizers so I have no issue with alcohol in my skin care and I am 55 with very dry skin.

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

Stephen is beautiful 😭😭😭

[@haovnyk]

I feel so much more knowledgeable from watching your channel, BIG THANKS ❤️ Also your friend here is super pretty!

[@meerianu]

You deserve more subscribers. Thank you for the quality content and for the helpful information ❤️

[@firstlala8972]

Legend says that everyday, after making this video Michelle checks her closet for Paul Begoun before going to bed.

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

😂😂😂 I've actually met her before, she's very nice in person!

[@sunshine9993]

Paula? I love that lady 😃

[@UdegbunamChuks]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@IamaDanish]

To be fair, Paula and her Beautypedia are what taught me to do my own research when it comes to skincare ingredients and to not just take one person's word for anything. (this was way back before reddit was even a thing). I feel like she would actually very much approve of what Michelle is doing here. (Sorry @First Lala, I know you were only joking, just wanted to credit Paula for opening my eyes back then. :)

[@CutxyWooxy]

Hi Michelle, thank you so much for your videos! You're one of my main sources of information in skincare. I'm so glad scientific channels like yours exist! Great work an thank you for clarifying all of these topics in a scientific way! :D

[@timothychardonnay]

Michelle, I admire your sense of humour as much as I do your knowledge! Thank you so much!

[@brainwashboi123]

Michelle, I really appreciate you clarifying what they are specifically referring to as an “alcohol”. As someone else that majored in chemistry (only have a bachelor’s so far), I wasn’t sure if they meant alcohol, ethanol, various compounds with alcohol functional groups, etc. Thanks!

[@seaturtlelovely]

This lady has sass and I love it. I’m just replaying 8:53 over and over again, like “uh-wwwhhHHAAATTT??”

[@marcoandaloro7339]

skin care with denat.alcohol burns my skin so much, I cannot stand it

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

If your skin hurts, then it's a good idea to avoid it! But it's a sign that your skin is damaged, not that the alcohol is causing harm.

[@Call-me-Al]

Yeah, I used to have the same issue. Turns out I had hypothyroidism and terribly damaged skin on top of it. Moisturizing religiously with oils, getting medication for my hypothyroidism, and getting way more omega 3 into my diet helped a lot.

[@marcoandaloro7339]

I am a young boy, so my chances of having this disease is very low

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

@@marcoandaloro7339 Do you exfoliate a lot?

[@marcoandaloro7339]

once a week with bha and aha

[@belifusa]

Thanks so much for the information, Michelle! 🤗

[@vivettegarciadeister2751]

This was exactly the question I wante to ask! Thank. Love the nerdiness

[@iamayushigupta]

Thank you so so so much for making such an informative video!!!

[@lisahayes3648]

Wow, I’m really surprised by these findings but great to know.

[@xoxmama]

YOU BOTH ARE MY QUEEENNNNSSSS!!! Name more iconic duo ill wait

[@skepticaemia]

Thank you guys for bringing the facts and helping me change my mind on alcohols. What you've said actually makes a lot of sense when I think about my existing knowledge of alcohols! I think as a dry skin person I just avoided alcohols but I think now I won't worry about alcohol in my products as much moving forward.

[@MinPinSteve]

New sub! This video was recommended to me by KZbin and I am happy I clicked on this channel. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@joshleyson]

Now this makes me feel better about the Bioré Watery Essence sunscreen. I’d been discouraged a lot by people to use that because of its alcohol content but I really love that brand because it fits my SE asian skin tone! Thank you, Michelle 💓

[@Calldumb]

thank you for talking about controversial ingredients, i'm the type of person to be very easily affected by fear-mongering online (at some point i couldn't even wash my hair without having a panic attack because i was convinced that the silicones in my shampoo would damage my hair permanently?? my hair would go unwashed for long periods of time during that phase haha) and hearing everything people have been saying about alcohols and how it destroys your skin has also not been a fun trip,, listening to you talking about actual scientific findings with these things has been a calming experience to say the least😌

[@solomonh.valdez3168]

Haha same !! I’m like who the F do I believe!!! 😩😩 but it’s good to do our research .

[@SueRosalie]

silicones are successful because they are beneficial but they can and do build up and are only a problem if you have curly hair for reasons you will know if you follow Curly Girl Method. Silicones are not unsafe.

[@eatingcontestchamp20]

fragrance in skincare is a topic I'd love to see you cover!

[@logiclanguagelearningFrench]

Yes!

[@SueRosalie]

generally I prefer products to be fragrance-free but fragrance is sometimes used to mask the unpleasant smell of some ingredients, otherwise consumers simply would not buy them.

[@SueRosalie]

Thank you so much for this!

[@kagitsune]

This was helpful, it has changed my mind a bit!

[@karencrutchfield6907]

Love, love, love this video! Thank you for giving us the real science behind alcohol!!! So informative! Now we can make educated decisions about what we see in our products! Thank you!!!

[@cwang7771]

Love your collab!

[@ConstanzeC]

Great! Thank you! Paula Begoun should watch that!

[@sawayakichizuru6667]

Very educational. Thank you!

[@yonit1576]

*Hayram left the group chat* Also, loved the ending!

[@Ashanti_flower24]

Yonit Vareika 😂😂😂 all the skincare “gurus” have

[@QuirkyBoy]

james welsh also hahaha 🤣

[@QuirkyBoy]

@@Ashanti_flower24 and self claim "Specialist" like hyram lol

[@Ashanti_flower24]

Alidan Danial 😂😂😂

[@UdegbunamChuks]

😂😂😂😂

[@mariondove1]

@kindofstephen Thank you so much dude for explaining the difference between Trichostasis spinulosa and sebaceous filaments!!! You know YOU are the ONLY source on the internet, at least for the US, that actually talks about it? I'm an Esthetician from Germany and always wondered why US Estheticians aren't taught the difference between T.S. and S.F. ----- Thanks again!

[@capucinemartin-phipps2638]

Super clear, thanks ☺️

[@Metztlii]

Great video! Please make next one about Paraffinum Liquidum

[@CorettakingsQ]

Wow. What a good video. Loaded with science based data. Thank you. You got a new subscriber.

[@WhiteLily777]

you are fun! appreciate the quality of your video.

[@littledancingfawn]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Awesome job. I’ve always been curious about the use of alcohol in my facial products.

[@kaceynm]

A Mixed Makeup/Lab Muffin collab!!!! 😍

[@solomonh.valdez3168]

Would love this !!!

[@Artasun]

Thank you so much for this, as a health worker I have to use both cleansing methods but with this knowledge i can combat the dry skin and nails that i suffer with. Thanks again. 👌🖖

[@mrphalange7015]

More videos of the two of you please!

[@kimberlywallace4514]

Hi Michell; What type of skin care do you use, your skin looks flawless and glowing and you are beautiful and smart , thank you for your time and knowledge with us

[@TheEcoWell]

This video was SO GOOD!!! LOVE!!!

[@cristinarisso8668]

AMAZING VIDEO , thank youuuuuuuuu

[@lilyxu874]

Really appreciate your explanation! Must have been really hard to get these hand sanitisers in your video though ; )

[@teamginger6359]

Thank you!!

[@veraciously]

My work just bought a dozen bottles of hand sanitizer to prevent corona virus or seasonal flu from spreading and it made me wonder about the high alcohol content in that. This is very timely, thanks!

[@theanswerisowl]

That was informative. I think I remember when someone from Paulas Choice had an argument about this with a blogger who said alcohol was not that big of a problem. I totally believed the idea that alc is 'pro-aging' etc, it was perpetuated a lot and I just thought it was the most recent and accurate scientific standpoint on the matter.

[@annemarie3367]

I admire your incredible ability tyo explain scientific facts. And you can be so funny at times! You are a gem! Thanks for everything.

[@ilonaviczian9850]

One application of hand sanitizer and my hands are completely dried out and puckered. Definitely don’t get that from hand soap.

[@traceymurphy4804]

Ok, that was my first laugh of the day! Entertaining and informative!

[@angryoats896]

I was just talking to someone else about this recently! I personally really only want there to be ethanol/alcohol in my sunscreen. Personal preference but really interesting studies here! Will be doing more research about this.

[@soturbow]

I have used a product with alcohol (not high on the list) for many years, maybe more than 5 years, without realizing it, and over half a year ago, my skin started to get dehydration (I have oily skin). I started finding ingredients to hydrate my skin, eg. hyaluronic acid, but it didn't help. A couple of months ago, when I really started researching more about skincare and finally be able to read the ingredient list without a lot of ????? floating around my head. About last month, I picked up the said product to read its ingredients and found it has alcohol, so I stopped using it, and over a week after, my bad dehydration got much better to almost none. Will my case proves that alcohol might be a bad idea in skincare in the long term? I'm not 100% against alcohol in texture-vise beauty products like sunscreen, primer, foundation, etc. But I prefer my primary steps in my skincare routine like toner, serum, moisturizer to be without alcohol though as I have had actual bad experience with it as mentioned above.

[@LabMuffinBeautyScience]

If alcohol is far down the list, it's incredibly unlikely to be the problem. It could be something else in the ingredients of that product, it could be a coincidence (maybe something else in your life changed at the point). That's the problem with anecdotal evidence - there are too many confounding factors to be able to use it as "proof" the vast majority of the time.

[@0o0Vanilla0o0]

I've started using skin aqua moisture uv gel (which has quite a lot of ethanol) and I really wanted to like it, because it is so light, perfect for make up, and I have oily skin. As soon as I tried it, I noticed that my skin wasn't reacting well to it (redness on the cheeks in particular) and I started getting whiteheads. I don't think I'm reacting to the filters because I've tried other sunscreens with these same filters before and my skin is not particularly sensitive. It just seems that my skin and alcohol don't get along well. I remember when I was younger, I tried this foundation that had alcohol in it and had a similar effect on me. That was years ago, so I wanted to see if maybe things would be different with another product containing alcohol and yeah, no 😂. Right now I'm using just a few soothing products, because after that my skin was breaking out even from my usual products

[@isitbees]

your next video should definitely (PLEASE) be about aluminum in deodorants, and "toxicity" of aluminum through topical application!

[@MaxineV]

Very informative, thank you. I would love to know more about the efficacy of green and white tea in skincare.

[@AM-tl1xi]

Thank you for this video! I've been using a gel prescribed by my dermatologist with a high percentage of alcohol and while at first I was nervous about it since I had bad experiences with alcohol in skincare in the past, things are going smoothly (even literally ahah). I now feel even more comfortable using it!

[@pphire6060]

The toners I had when I was younger, and one I recently ditched only had percentages ranging from 14%-25%, I get not making a big deal if the product is in low concentrations (e.g. 1%) with my sensitive skin, but I feel like longer term studies would give better insight, as I really felt the damage on my skin barrier over the years. Especially since toners stayed on the skin all day and we all used cotton pads to rub it into the skin (wiping oil/dirt off). I agree there need to be more funding on these studies, I don’t see how these studies really reflect the use of skincare products

[@sarahp4420]

I wanna party with handle holding, sombrero wearing Michelle lol!! Excited for some skin care science!

[@kavitahegde6276]

Hi Michelle ! Could you make a video on alcohols like benzyl alcohol that are used as preservatives in skincare, talking about their safety while considering dermal absorption rates ?